did a bit of research into shoving servers into a refrigerated shipping container - it's a solid idea and can work but there's too many unknowns:

* perfect size for servers - can fit 400RU
* insulation means efficient use of cooling
* relatively affordable @ $30,000 once off vs $30,000/yr
* can be placed anywhere, noise not a problem

but some bad bits:

* need to pay more to get the container customised for cable entry (at least 1x power & 1x data)
* would get internet connected to a building (need permission from building owner), then run fibre from NTD/router to container outdoors - expensive
* same with power - need to run power from building to container, few thousand bucks all up
* finding a property that would let me do this, has enough spare power and in ABB's fibre footprint
* cooling potentially unlikely to cope with heat output, even though I'm just trying to maintain 30-degrees, not minus-18 or 4

datacentre still looking like the best option